– Natasha Bowens

“Is this movement honoring racial and cultural diversity as much as we honor biodiversity?”

– Natasha Bowens

Meet Natasha Bowens

“Her energy permeates a room, her experience ignites ideas in a way that is not only dynamic but also highly personal, authentic and engaging.” –NOFAVT Conference participant 2014

Natasha’s focus is building empowerment through food and strengthening equity and justice within the food movement. Her book The Color of Food: Stories of Race, Resilience and Farming is a book the Foreword Review calls “a trailblazing look at the past and present of North American farming through the eyes of farmers of color.” A collection of powerful stories from Asian, Black, Latinx and Native farmers across the U.S., Natasha’s book and the talks she gives offer a perspective of farming and the food movement that cannot be overlooked. She challenges us to dig deeper in our work to change the food system and address racial inequality.

Reviews

“The food movement has woken the world to the joy of food, but the beauty of the people who grow it is too often hidden. It is impossible to understand food in America without digging deeply into race, class and culture. People’s perceptions are their realities, and Natasha contributes to changing our reality by changing our perception of the hands, hearts and faces in the food movement.”

“True to her ancestral ties, Natasha brings forth the hope of a new generation of young people of color fixed on recapturing the energy, history and tradition of farming. The power of storytelling is etched in each farmer’s tale of courage and resiliency as they look at farming, not as oppressive, but as a vibrant celebration of who they are. The stories Natasha shares make the ancestors rise up in triumph! Natasha’s energy is palpable!”

“Natasha Bowens, through her compelling stories and powerful images of a rainbow of farmers, reminds us that the industrialization of our food system and the oppression of our people — two sides of the same coin — will, if not confronted, sow the seeds of our own destruction.”

“Dive into the stories and photographs Natasha Bowens shares and you come up for air with a profound appreciation for the diversity of people planting the seeds and harvesting the foods to keep alive cultural traditions and nourish communities around the country. Anyone who eats should read her book: You will come to the table with new appreciation for the intersections between race and food that so often go unsaid and undocumented. Kudos to Bowens.”

Resources on Race & Food

The corporate-controlled food industry in this country is rife with discrimination, oppression and the denial of rights -Rights to healthy food, to land, to a clean environment, and rights to an equal opportunity for success and livelihood for farmers and consumers. One problem is that the people who control this broken food system do not represent the most impacted communities: women and communities of color and low income.

Food sovereignty is a term that means gaining control over all aspects of our food – including issues like racial inequity, land loss and farmers’ and farmworkers’ rights which we see taking place globally today. Such topics as racial health disparities, “food deserts” and “food justice” have rapidly come into the limelight lacking input from the communities being spoken for. If we cannot see and hear from our communities, we will not have food sovereignty.

To see the seeds of racism, oppression and power for what they are will be the primary challenge for achieving real change in our food movement. They are tools to oppress communities but also create a veil over our eyes when aiming to “help” that community. If we want to help fix our food system we need to think about what helps and what just perpetuates the issues.